We.Love.The.Beach. And now our girls do, too! This year in Kiawah was the first time all three girls really enjoyed playing on the beach. In the past E & S were still kind of tentative about it all, but this year was a huge change and it made for a great vacation. We quickly found a good groove (once the weather started cooperating mid-week!) and spent our mornings on the beach, about 3 hours of jumping waves, playing and digging in the sand, looking for shells and yes, even doing relay races and running on the "track" Brett made in the sand. We made camp each day at one of the large tide pools on the beach (think: glorified puddle/swimming hole that sometimes was waist high for the girls). This equaled the perfect little spot for us. We even met another family who did the same thing and quickly became friends since we shared the same tide pool and of course passed sand toys back and forth! Throw in Aunt Laura and Aunt Marcey (and occasionally Mimi and Mr. Bill) for a little extra fun for the girls and it was the perfect formula for a great time on the beach.
This became our chant the first half of the week. We got caught in the rain a few too many times on the beach and holed up under an umbrella for chunks of time while the rain poured.
On one of our rainy days we went to nearby Charleston to the Aquarium and enjoyed a morning looking at all the fish. Of course we got some Southern Bar-B-Que for lunch afterwards. Charleston is such a beautiful southern city!
We were in Kiawah on July 4th so there was a huge family friendly celebration on the island and a (very small) parade to kick off the festivities. We took the kids and they got to make some crafts and play some fun games. C was eager to get her face painted and E & S were content just to get some tattoos. It was hot! But I'll choose the heat over rain. Apparently Cincinnati was nothing but wet on July 4th.
Not great pictures, but you get the idea. We went to a show geared for kids & families one evening...a guy who sings crazy songs and gets kids to dance. I think "Kazoobie" was somehow in the name of the show and kazoos were definitely involved (but it all seemed a little silly to me). Corinne finally got Ellen to go up in front with her and dance just before it was time for the show to end.
Stay tuned for more photos. But here is a start, at least! The girls rode in the wagon to the beach each day across the boardwalk pictured above (Sophie in purple stripes, E in pink). Corinne loved riding her bike to and from the beach. One of my favorite things about Kiawah is how peaceful and quiet it is--deliberately protected from commercialization and the hustle and bustle of normal life. It has quickly become a favorite spot of ours the last few years, as much for the people we spend time with as the beautiful vacation spot that it is.
